The Truth About Blogging

I have put off writing this for a couple of months now but I think it’s time I stop living in denial.

I’d like to thank Malika Bowling, who heads up the Association of Food Bloggers (and is quite the impressive writer herself) for a recent article she wrote and shared on LinkedIn. You can find it here.

Between the questions from my readers and that article (which I adored), I’ve finally felt compelled to address the truth about blogging.

Here it is: we have other shit going on too.

I don’t mean we have two dinners and a cocktail hour in one night. I mean we have OTHER THINGS going on. Business things. Personal things. Stuff. And Things. These blogs are a labor of love. And boy, I don’t know one blogger who would tell you it’s not a labor.

Many of the food or lifestyle bloggers you love are working a 9-5 and then they’re working a 5-9 and sometimes a 9-12. They have side businesses, they freelance, they sit through horrendous corporate meetings so that they have the ability to do what they love. They also have husbands, wives, children, friends, boyfriends, girlfriends, good dates, bad dates, commutes, etc.

There are very few food bloggers who have been able to accomplish living solely off their website. I know a few who have succeeded at this. I admire them. I actually sort of idolize them. (One day! *shakes fist*)

I haven’t been posting as frequently as I used to. Period.

The consistency at which I have been updating content has been completely off balance since my move back to Rhode Island. Many of you know me on a personal level and know why I moved. For those of you who don’t know the story the abridged version is this: I was in a dangerous situation that forced me to finally accept that moving was my best option for survival.

I didn’t do it alone.

Around 30 or so people helped me get back here. Their generosity is still something I struggle with every day. By struggle I mean that I think about it constantly and I think about the way in which I can prove to them that their help wasn’t wasted, that I am making the best out of the opportunity they helped me obtain. Just thinking about it moves me to tears. Without help from family, friends and strangers I don’t know where I’d be today.

So with that always in the back of my mind and with the encouragement of my family and friends I have started fresh. Started from nothing. The funds that were raised to get me home lasted me a month. I am bound and determine to break back into my field of work (the art/non-profit sector for those of you who don’t know). To do this I have taken on two jobs in Boston. That’s a two hour commute each way. There’s also the “me” part. I can work 10 jobs, but if I’m not addressing the issues that brought me back to Rhode Island, I’m not doing anyone any good. I’m putting in the work to get back on track, to make those of you who have supported me the past six (plus) months proud. I’m happy to be working this hard. It feels good. It feels right. But it’s been coming at the expense of my two babies – and some of you have noticed.

I cannot consistently produce quality content for Good Eats: Mundial and The Boston Tea Party on the current schedule I have. So I have three options:

Shut down the websites

Keep posting often, even if the quality of the content is ‘meh’

Minimize posting and only allow the best quality work to go up

I’m going with option three. There’s no way I’m going to stop writing.

The creation of Good Eats: Mundial especially holds such a special place in my heart. That’s why I will not throw up content for the sake of content. I can’t do that to myself and I won’t do that to all of you.

So you may notice that my entries are a bit sparse, but I’m here. I’m hustling to get back on track so that both Good Eats: Mundial and The Boston Tea Party are bringing you the best possible quality pictures, interviews and articles out there.